London Community Foundation Takes Part in New Healthy Communities Initiative
Today, London Community Foundation is announcing they will be part of an initiative to provide $1.3 million across Southwestern Ontario to transform public spaces in response to COVID.
This funding is part of the Government of Canada’s new $31 million Healthy Communities Initiative. This investment by the federal government will support community-led organizations in developing local, small-scale infrastructure projects that respond to the immediate needs arising from COVID-19, while building towards a more pandemic-resilient future.
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London Community Foundation grants $178,450 to local women’s organizations through the Fund for Gender Equality
London Community Foundation is announcing grants totalling $178,450 to six local organizations working to support women, girls, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse individuals working towards a future grounded in equity, inclusion and justice. The Fund for Gender Equality is part of a partnership with Community Foundations of Canada, funded through the Government of Canada. London Community Foundation is one of 21 local community foundations across Canada that are taking part. In total, these community foundations are granting $3.5 million towards the women’s movement.
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Pilot Fund for Gender Equality: Opening the Circle
Violence that is committed against women has been called a shadow pandemic, and like COVID-19, gender-based violence is global and deadly. As reported in our latest Vital Signs report, Be the Change, local organizations conservatively estimate a 30% increase in domestic violence cases since April 2020, and many of the cases being reported are noticeably more severe than usual. In addition to fears about the virus, families are experiencing increased stressors that can elevate the risk for violence – such as unemployment, school interruptions and ongoing social isolation. For women who are isolated at home with an abusive partner, the opportunity to get help has been significantly restricted. Support services are needed now more than ever before.
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Pilot Fund for Gender Equality: Okaadenige Wellness Retreat for Survivors
Human trafficking is an issue that is often ignored and under-reported in Canada. Hundreds of women and girls are taken every year and forced to enter the sex-trade against their will, and for Indigenous communities, generations of colonial trauma means they are targeted more often for human trafficking.
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Vital People Award Recipients Announced
In 2011, London Community Foundation identified a gap in the non-profit community: many organizations simply did not have the budget for professional development for their employees. LCF established the Vital People award to address this need and allow local agencies to nominate their employees for a professional development grant of up to $2,000.
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London Community Foundation takes part in new Fund for Gender Equality
London Community Foundation (LCF) announced today it will provide $140,000 to local organizations working to support women, girls, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse individuals working towards a future grounded in equity, inclusion and justice. The Fund is part of a partnership with Community Foundations of Canada, funded through the Government of Canada. London Community Foundation is one of the local community foundations across Canada that are taking part.
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Honouring the Youth Leaders of Today: The J. Allyn Taylor Community Service Award
The J. Allyn Taylor Community Service Award is presented to a grade 10 or 11 student in London and Middlesex County who exhibits outstanding dedication to the community. This year’s recipient, Jennifer Lee, is a grade 11 student currently attending London Central Secondary School. As the founder of her school’s Social Justice Club and an active volunteer with the Canadian Cancer Society, Jennifer is a strong leader who demonstrates a desire to leave nobody behind at every turn and a deep care for her community.
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LCF Announces This Year's Community Vitality Grant Recipients
Today, the London Community Foundation announced $943,900 in grants as part of its annual Community Vitality Grant program. Funded by LCF’s Community Fund, this program supports high-impact, innovative, and collaborative initiatives that create systemic change in the London and Middlesex region.
Community Vitality grant recipients are chosen through a months-long deliberation process in which a panel of community volunteers, along with LCF staff, discuss and review project proposals put forward by local agencies.
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London Community Foundation launches 2020 Vital Signs Report: Be the Change
London Community Foundation (LCF) has launched its 2020 Vital Signs Report, Be the Change. Taking the pulse of our community, this special edition of Vital Signs amplifies voices from local leaders, delivering an urgent call to action to address longstanding structural issues and inequities that have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Applications Now Open for a New Round of Investment Readiness Funding
In 2019, Community Foundations of Canada, alongside the Government of Canada and several partner organizations, announced the Investment Readiness Program (IRP), a program that helps social purpose organizations advance their social enterprises to prepare to seek and accept investments. The goal of the IRP is to support these organizations move towards receiving social finance investment, including through the Government of Canada’s Social Finance Fund. CFC held its first round of funding through the IRP in winter 2020, the results of which are now publicly available.
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COVID-19 Grants: N'Amerind (London) Friendship Centre
The N’Amerind Friendship Centre is a non-profit organization committed to the promotion of physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual well-being of native people and in particular, urban native people. For many Indigenous Peoples living in London, the N’Amerind Friendship Centre is a safe, non-judgmental place where they can seek support for everything from pre-natal care to accessing employment and training opportunities.
Personal, face-to-face contact is a key component of every N’Amerind program, and with the pandemic forcing them to shut their doors, this essential aspect of their programming has been lost. And while social isolation is an issue in and of itself, many clients also lost access to food when N’Amerind’s regular programming ceased.
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COVID-19 Grants: Regional HIV/AIDS Connection
Regional HIV/AIDS Connection (RHAC) is dedicated to positively impacting the lives of individuals and diverse communities living with, at-risk for, or affected by HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C (HCV). RHAC offers a comprehensive array of programming, counselling services and educational resources designed to erase stigma, support those affected by HIV/AIDS, and prevent its transmission.
Factors such as stress and precarious access to medication can make navigating the pandemic especially difficult for People Living With HIV/AIDS (PHAs), resulting in increased anxiety around risk of vulnerability to COVID-19.
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Q and A with Ken Fleet Choral Conducting Scholarship Recipient Victor Cheng
The Ken Fleet Choral Conducting Scholarship is awarded annually to an Ontario choral conducting student, helping them pursue educational opportunities above and beyond their established academic curriculum. Usually a $1,000 award funded by the Ken Fleet Choral Conducting Scholarship fund and administered in partnership with London Pro Musica Choir, Medway High School and Amabile Choirs of London, this year’s award was increased to $2,000 thanks to the generosity of the Wilson Family Foundation at LCF.
We sat down with this year’s Ken Fleet Choral Conducting Scholarship recipient, Victor Cheng, to chat about his career aspirations, Ken Fleet, and the beauty of the human voice.
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COVID-19 Grants: Thames Valley Education Foundation
The Thames Valley Education Foundation (TVEF) is a registered charitable organization affiliated with the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) that fosters, supports and builds relationships in the community to provide enhanced learning opportunities for TVDSB students. The Caring Fund, one of TVEFs primary initiatives, was established to support students facing issues related to poverty or during emergencies.
The ripple effects of school closures and the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic were immediately felt by families throughout the community. Within just a few weeks, the number of requests for support through the Caring Fund had quadrupled.
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COVID-19 Grants: DeafBlind Ontario Services
DeafBlind Ontario Services provides accessible residential and customized support services across the province, supporting adults with a combined loss of hearing and vision. They take a holistic approach to providing Intervenor Services that are customized to each individual’s unique needs, method of communication, and goals to increase their independence and enrich their life.
The pandemic has hit DeafBlind Ontario Services’ clientele particularly hard. Since much of the communication between intervenors and people with deafblindness is done through touch, social distancing has been all but impossible.
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